Eric Berger

Welcome to August, everyone. With an average temperature of 88.1 degrees, this month beat out 1980 (87.5 degrees) as the warmest July in Houston’s recorded history, dating back to the year 1889. Of course, Houston also experienced the warmest June in history this year. So does that mean August will be torrid as well? This is far less certain, and the first week or ten days of the month should feel mostly like a typical August. We’ll even start the month with a nice chance of rain showers today. All of this may provide little comfort, of course, as August is typically the hottest and most unpleasant of the year for Houston, weather-wise.

Also, as of today, we’re one-third of the way through the Atlantic hurricane season. It has been a relatively quiet start in terms of overall activity—while there have been three named storms, they have all been weak, short-lived systems. Happily, the next week or so looks pretty quiet as well. Unfortunately, most of a season’s activity comes later in August, and September, so we cannot draw any conclusions yet about what lies ahead for the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Matt will have more tomorrow in his tropics update.

Monday

Today should bring scattered showers later this morning, and into the afternoon hours, as low pressure and a reasonably moist atmosphere support rainfall. Chances will probably be in the 30- to 50-percent range for locations south of Interstate 10, with slightly reduced chances further inland. Skies will be partly cloudy, with high temperatures likely topping out in the mid-90s. Winds should generally be light, out of the southeast, at 5 to 10 mph. Lows tonight may briefly drop below 80 degrees.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

High pressure builds back into the region during the middle of the work week, and this should bring mostly sunny skies overhead. This will push high temperatures into the upper 90s, to possibly 100 degrees for inland areas. Rain chances will fall back to around 20 percent each day, with isolated to scattered showers developing along the sea breeze.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

As high pressure backs off, our atmospheric conditions will become more favorable for rainfall heading into the weekend. Right now I’d peg rain chances at 50 percent for both Friday and Saturday, with perhaps lesser chances on Sunday. It’s still too early for a precise forecast, but certainly we could see a fair amount of showers and thunderstorms. Regardless, partly cloudy skies should help to limit high temperatures in the low- to mid-90s.

Highs should remain in the mid-90s to start next week.

Hi all. This is a sponsored post from Reliant, who asked that we share this timely information with readers about smart thermostats and energy conservation. Thanks, Eric.

Eric and Matt don’t believe in hype and at Reliant, neither do we. There has been a lot of misleading talk
in the media and online recently about smart thermostats and how energy companies use this
technology during moments when conservation is needed this summer. Requests for conservation are
not new. They are a valuable tool often used to balance supply and demand, especially during extreme
heat waves like the one we’ve been experiencing. That’s why Reliant wants to be a source of factual
information on this topic.

The main takeaway: Consumers are always in control of their thermostats

Here’s an explanation on the role smart thermostats play regarding energy conservation in Texas:

• Reliant’s demand response programs reward customers for reducing their usage and conserving energy during periods of high electricity demand, which ultimately helps reduce the load on the Texas electricity grid and helps customers save money by consuming less. Electricity customers must sign up for and agree to participate in a demand response program.
• At Reliant, our program is called Degrees of Difference and it rewards customers with a bill credit for the small changes they make to reduce their usage during designated events, which are communicated to customers in advance.
• Here’s how it works: Customers with smart thermostats have the temperature automatically adjusted by no more than four degrees during these designated events, which last no more than four hours. However, customers always have ultimate control over the temperature in their homes and can override any adjustments.
• A do-it-yourself version of this program is also available to Texans with manual thermostats who are interested in receiving bill credits for adjusting their usage.
• Demand response programs are separate from the customer’s electricity plan and opting in or out is easy. Customers who no longer want to participate can unenroll online or by calling our call center without penalty, cancellation fees or having to cancel their existing electricity plan.
• We’ve also reviewed other similar demand response programs across Texas and haven’t found ANY that don’t allow customers to adjust their temperature or penalize them for opting out.

With high temperatures continuing this week and beyond, we felt it necessary to be clear on how these
programs operate and remind Texans they are always in control of their energy usage.

Stay cool, SCW readers!

Good morning. The month of July is now two-thirds over, and if the month ended today Houston’s average temperature of 88.6 degrees would rank as the warmest July on record by nearly a full degree. I’m now confident we’ll set this record for July.

Alas, there is not much good news I can offer today except this: We’re now reaching the historically warmest part of the summer—from about July 20 to August 20. Why is this good news? For the optimist in me, this means we can at least begin to dream of fall.

Thursday

With high pressure more or less overhead we’re going to see another sweltering day, similar to Wednesday. Expect highs in the low 100s for inland locations, and upper 90s along the coast. Skies will be mostly sunny, with a less than 10 percent chance of rain. Winds will be out of the south at 5 to 10 mph.

Friday

As the high starts to back off slightly, a disturbance may approach the area from the east on Friday. This will have modest effect on temperatures, perhaps limiting highs to the upper 90s. It will also produce a 20 to 30 percent chance of rain from a passing shower. Good luck!

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend is going to be hot, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 90s to 100 degrees for most of the area. Rain chances are probably in the 10 to 20 percent range for coastal areas, with lesser chances further inland.

Next week

As we get deeper into next week I’m still anticipating a slight moderation in temperatures as the high pressure system slowly moves eastward. I expect much of the region to see highs in the mid- to upper-90s, with a slight 20 to 30 percent chance of afternoon showers or thunderstorms. It won’t be much relief, but it will beat what we’ve been experiencing.

Houston will see peak heating the next couple of days—with nearly all of the region experiencing triple digit temperatures away from the immediate coast—before a dominant high pressure system starts to progress eastward. This should slowly start a return to somewhat more normal weather, which is to say by the middle of next week we could be in the mid-90s, with decent rain chances.

Wednesday

An excessive heat warning is in effect for inland counties today, including the cities of Crockett, Madisonville, Huntsville, Caldwell, College Station, Bryan, Brenham, and Navasota. This means these areas could see high temperatures of 105 degrees or above, with dangerous heat levels due to humidity. The rest of the region should see highs of around 100 degrees, or a bit higher, with only the coast remaining in the 90s. Skies will be sunny, with southerly winds at 5 to 10 mph, and higher gusts. Lows tonight will not drop below 80 degrees.

Thursday

Another brutally hot day, similar to Wednesday.

Friday

By Friday the high pressure system should start to back off a little bit, and this should open up the potential for a few isolated to scattered coastal showers. However, I don’t expect these rains to make it past Interstate 10. Most of the region should otherwise see mostly sunny skies, with highs in the upper 90s.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend should bring highs in the upper-90s for much of the region, with mostly sunny skies and only slight 10 to 20 percent rain chances.

Next week

After starting in the upper 90s, temperatures will be slow to come down next week. But by Wednesday or Thursday we could start to drop back toward the mid-90s, and with a few more clouds begin to see the more widespread development of showers and thunderstorms. For now I’d guess rain chances most days will be in the 30 percent range, but there’s just no way to tell with much precision at this point. The bottom line is that the next six or seven days look pretty dry, in terms of rainfall, but there is least some potential for change after that point.